Daniela Trezzi, a nurse at the forefront of the coronavirus fight, has committed suicide.
Trezzi took her life after it was confirmed that she tested positive for the COVID-19, which has thus far killed over 18,000 people in the world and made more than 400,000 ill.
More than 113,000 of the people diagnosed with the disease have recovered. The 34-year-old Italian nurse was working at the San Gerardo Hospital in the Lombardy region — one of the areas hit the hardest by the coronavirus.
She was assigned to the intensive care unit at the hospital, where many staff members are overwhelmed by the number of sick people caused by the pandemic.
According to local media, Trezzi put at an end to her life out of fear that she had accidentally infected some of her patients.
Due to the lack of proper equipment, many doctors and nurses in Italy have unwillingly infected some of the people they were caring for.
Via Twitter and Facebook, The National Federation of Nurses of Italy announced the sad passing of Trezzi. It was revealed that the health care worker died on Sunday.
The statement also confirmed that Trezzi was suffering from heavy stress due to the nature of her work. According to the statement, Trezzi was assigned to the intensive care unit at the hospital.
It says that after she was diagnosed with coronavirus on March 10, she told her colleagues that she was stressed out and worried that she might have infected others without knowing.
The statement read: “The National Federation of Nurses expresses their pain and dismay for their young colleague, who has committed suicide. Our 450,000 professionals across Italy join together to support Daniela’s family, friends, and colleagues.”
It went on to explain: “Each of us has chosen this profession for good and, unfortunately, also for bad: we are nurses.”
The federation concluded by: “The condition and stress to which our professionals are subjected are under the eyes of all, a similar episode had happened a week ago in Venice, with the same underlying reasons.”
Hospital general manager Mario Alparone revealed to local media that Trezzi had been at home sick since March 10, which is when her test result came back positive.
According to Alparone, Trezzi “was not under surveillance,” during the self-isolation period. The most recent data showed that Italy has sadly topped China for the number of deaths.
On Wednesday, it was confirmed that the death toll in Italy rose to 7,503, with 74,386 infections.
